


you’re a gamble, and i’m all in.

by kaermorhencalls



Series: The Legend of Denmark and Norway [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Coming Out, Fate & Destiny, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Prophecy, Sexuality Crisis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:07:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28699641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaermorhencalls/pseuds/kaermorhencalls
Summary: Fireside chats between Denmark and Norway lead to the biggest revelation that would change the course of their lives for the better.
Relationships: Denmark/Norway (Hetalia)
Series: The Legend of Denmark and Norway [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2103720
Kudos: 17





	you’re a gamble, and i’m all in.

Summer nights were often punctured with the chirps of crickets, the silent cadence of fireflies making their tiny beads of light known for just a few moments at a time. It was little more than a flash in the dark, a signal to the others that love was afoot on the warm breezes. That was kind of how Aleks felt, poking at a dying fire despite the warm season. He kept the light burning late into the hours past midnight so that those who were busy trying to find love would not stumble on their way out.

For his best friend, who was trying so hard to find his complement, to find the one who would make him feel whole. To shake the feeling of wrongness from his skin, to see why people went to war for lovers.

Aleksander still held that tiny whisper of knowledge in the back of his mind, that the seers had promised him Denmark. Or the Gods. Whoever. But to take one’s free will, one’s own choices… It didn’t sit well with the berserker despite his own actions to the contrary in battle. No, in his life when not soaked in blood, he had a clear head. To test and see if such a thing was true, if his closest friend was searching for something not to be found in the soft bodies of women, it would mean the biggest gamble Aleksander would ever make.

The young Norseman put those thoughts aside like dropping a log onto the coals of his campfire, the fear of the unknown a strange thing for him to carry on his broad shoulders. He often charged into the unknown, axe shining in blood and shield at the ready. He challenged the unknown with a grin on his face, but this… He could not fight this like he could fight any Saxon warrior.

The soft, familiar footfalls of one Dane drew him out of his thoughts, and Aleks sat up a bit more on the log, rolling his stiff shoulders back. It was done, then. Mathias’ familiar weight plunked down onto the log beside him, silence stretching between the two friends as the Dane twisted his fingers together, the glacial ice of his eyes catching the light of the burning logs and setting them just as ablaze.

Aleksander had always marveled at his eyes, how they looked so cold but were the opposite.

He didn’t have a moment to ask how it went before Mathias rubbed his hands over his face, leaning forward onto his elbows. Shoulders slumped. Curled in on himself.

“Am I broken?” It was a whispered question over the crack of the fire. Aleks didn’t have a moment to reply before the Dane continued, muttering to himself as he kicked a stone into the fire ring. “I think I’m broken. It didn’t…I don’t like it. I feel off.”

The amount of hurt in his voice, the deep-seated belief that there was something wrong with him, it cut Aleksander every single time he heard it. How many evenings had he spent trying to convince Mathias that no, he wasn’t broken, that perhaps he had just not found the right person to complete him? Far, far too many.

As much as Aleksander wasn’t to push those unruly blonde locks out of his face, cradle the fine angles of his jaw in his hands and kiss him, that was his biggest fear. It wasn’t even rejection, it was the thought of taking away Mathias’ freedom to choose who he was, what sort of man he was going to fully become, and who he wanted to love.

There had been far too many pre-dawn mornings like this where Mathias watched the fire with shiny, teary eyes and a crushing feeling of defeat so plainly written on his face. There were too many instances in which Aleksander had to watch such a fine young man convince himself that he was not made the correct way, that he was some unlovable creature. That he didn’t know how to love someone.

Despite his thoughts, he could make Aleksander feel like the king of the world just by being his friend. He had so much love to give, it seeped into everything he did, everything he touched.

“I don’t think I can keep doing this,” Mathias whispered, a crack of hurt jutting through his words like a dagger. It sounds like resignation and defeat, another battle that the Dane could not triumph over.

Aleksander had seen enough. He had enough of his friend, his Denmark, upset and broken down just because of some girl. Especially when he could do something about it.

Turning, he grabbed Mathias gently by the shoulder, his other hand curling through the hair at the back of the blonde’s head, and pulled him in for a kiss. His hands are shaking– he, _Aleksander_ is trembling. The fear and the worry and everything just culminating in this quiet moment.

It’s like feeling the warmth of the sun for the first time after a harsh winter.

Aleks hears the tiniest of gasps, feels a hesitation and the Norseman wishes the ground would just swallow him up. Mathias leans back for a moment, glacial blue eyes blown wide in shock with his mouth slightly ajar.

He fears the absolute worst, is about to apologize for overstepping. He wasn’t thinking, he–

He just wanted to stop Mathias’ hurt. To show that he wasn’t as broken as he thinks he is.

His hands are still holding onto Mathias and Aleks almost lets him go, fearing getting a face full of a fist, until Mathias grasps at his chest, fingers dug into the fabric of his shirt and pulling pulling _pulling_ himself closer. Until Mathias kisses him back, a tremble running down his back. Until Aleks finds himself with a lap full of Dane, trading kisses like there’s no tomorrow while Mathias wraps his arms around his neck, fingers curled against the back of his neck. There are little spurts of overjoyed laughter interspersed, a euphoria that could not be tamped down.

They pull away after a moment, Aleks butting their heads together and muttering roughly, his voice so full of emotion that it is unable to be hidden away. “You cannot find what you’re seeking if you keep taking the wrong trail to find it.”

Mathias’ wet gaze falls back onto Aleks, grabbing the Norwegian by his cheeks and kissing him again as if he truly cannot believe that this is what he was missing. That this is what it’s supposed to be like. That he’s not broken. He can feel the love, the desires, and the jackrabbit excitement within his chest. It’s not hollow, not searching for something that he could not hope to find.

“This feels,” Mathias whispered, leaning back a bit and moving to lace his fingers together at the back of Aleks’ neck. “This… Feels right.”

“I know.” The relief in Aleks’ voice was unmistakable, wrapping his arms around the younger man’s waist and holding him close, fingertips gentle against his sides. “The seers told me when I was young,” He murmured, soothing fingers along Mathias’ sides as the Dane settled in his lap. “That I was to have Denmark. But I, I never wanted to force such a thing upon you.”

“I almost wish you would have,” Came the slightly bemused reply from Mathias, burrowing himself further into Aleks’ arms and cuddling against his chest. The silence stretched on from there, comfortable and warm like the summer breezes around them. Aleks rested his cheek against the top of Mathias’ head, letting his eyes shut as a small smile curled onto his lips.

The future was uncertain, and Aleks could feel the brewing of civil war beneath his skin. At least he had Mathias, and everything would be all right in the end.

Just as the Seers had foretold.


End file.
